Chapter 183: The Wild Inn

“Owner…”
On the desolate and remote official road, an inn serving travelers as a resting place welcomed a group of distinguished guests—thirteen martial artists in fine attire dismounted from their horses and handed them over to the quick-witted servants, instructing them to provide top-quality fodder. Then, the group entered the simple shed and sat down:
“Quick! Three jin of steamed buns, two jin of beef, and two bottles of Huadiao wine!”
“Sure!”
The presence of guests meant good business, and the inn owner’s face lit up with joy. He personally brought a pot of tea, poured a cup for each person, then repeated their orders and told the servants to hurry up.
The food was quickly served!
Without hesitation, the group devoured the white, hot steamed buns and tender beef, finishing everything and even letting out burps afterward.
“The food in this game is really satisfying to eat.”
After eating, they didn’t rush to leave. They relaxed, chatted among themselves, and said, “It’s a shame we can’t eat our fill here. Otherwise, I’d rather stay here all day and not go anywhere…”
“Well… with this level of spending, we could eat and drink for years if we went out and did a heist. By the way…” One of them suddenly turned to smile at a burly man sitting at another table, who was occupying a lot of space and looking quite imposing. With a smug grin, he asked, “Boss! How about the goods we just robbed? Is there enough to split into tens of thousands of taels?”
The dark-skinned man, as sturdy as an iron tower, raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, stopped tearing into the beef, and glared coldly at the speaker. “Tens of thousands of taels?”
“Just those goods from Weiyan Escort Agency? How could they be worth hundreds of thousands? Hmph! If we’re lucky, each of us might get ten thousand taels…” As he spoke, he thudded a money bag onto the table. “Five thousand taels each. That’s it—no more.”
After saying that coldly, the group frantically opened the money bag and divided the money like wolves and tigers.
Holding the gold and silver ingots they received, they still seemed unsatisfied.
“Boss, we’ve spent two days and nights waiting for this escort trip, and this is all we get?”
“That’s only a little over three hundred yuan—kind of little.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
The tall dark man, already annoyed, grew even more impatient and snarled, “I didn’t force you to join from the start. If a few of you hadn’t come, I might have given you more. If you’re not satisfied later, just get lost.”
“…”
“Hehe, boss, just kidding. Just joking.”

Some people started to step in to defuse the situation, while the others smiled apologetically and fell silent, even going so far as to order more beef and huadiao as a celebration. Only then did the dark-haired giant’s expression ease slightly. After several rounds of drinking, the group gathered around him again: “Um, boss, who’s our next target?” “Not decided yet.” The giant paused, waved his hand irritably, and burped: “Do you think our escort agency has missions every day? These things don’t just appear out of nowhere. When there’s a job, I’ll let you know…” The others grew frustrated. The giant, their current leader, was actually the brother of a disciple from Weiyuan Escort Agency. The two were quite clever; whenever a job came in, the disciple would send a message to his brother through a pigeon, informing him of the route and details of the escort party so they could take over the job. However, there were risks involved. Robbing an escort would put them on the government’s wanted list for a week, preventing them from entering cities. Moreover, any martial artists in the area could attack them, and upon the robbers’ death, all their money would be recovered. That’s why they chose remote, less-traveled roads to practice or engage in risk-free “businesses” to make a living. Though troublesome, some still found it exciting and full of the spirit of the martial world. Learning there were no jobs available for now, the group started planning where to practice or set up ambushes for such “businesses.” As they chatted in the tavern, suddenly! The giant’s ears twitched, and he stood up abruptly, silencing their noisy discussions: “Be quiet.” “…” The owner and servers, having nothing to do, dozed off in their seats, and the noisy tavern fell silent. “Clatter, clatter, clatter…” Distant horse hooves grew louder until they became clear. “Grab your weapons!” Hearing this, everyone in the tavern immediately pulled out their weapons from their waists or backs without hesitation. Soon, the sound of swords clashing filled the air. “Put them away.” The giant reacted fastest, frowning as he ordered, “There aren’t many of them. Sit down—don’t alert them! There are no inns within a hundred miles along this route. They’ll definitely stop to rest. We’ll wait here.” “What if they run away… Don’t forget we’re wanted by the authorities now.” Some regretted speaking out.

“Don’t worry. As long as we don’t look at the map, they won’t know. Not many people have that habit these days.” The tall black man reminded them with a smile and shrewdness, and the others immediately relaxed, putting away their weapons and returning to their seats.

“Drink.”

“Cheers!”

Once the tavern regained its calm, the sound of horse hooves came from around the corner of the road not far away. Two magnificent horses, one blue and one red, rushed toward the tavern side by side, covered in dust.

“Two people!”

Inside the tavern, the group exchanged looks, showing expressions of confirmation, with their lips curling slightly.

“Nice mounts. If sold, they should be worth tens of thousands of silver taels…” The tall black man didn’t even lift his head; just by the sound, he could tell these weren’t ordinary horses.

But when he looked up—

Everyone gasped.

Because… on those two speeding horses were two people each!

No!

Still two people! Riding on the other two “things” behind them, which emitted thick black mist, had rotten faces and terrifying appearances—definitely not what could be called “people.” At first glance, it sent chills down everyone’s spine!

As the group was in shock, the two riders had already arrived in front of the tavern. As expected, they stopped their horses. One of the young men jumped off and rushed into the tavern, shouting:

“Owner!”

“Bring some food—beef, steamed buns, anything tasty! Damn it, I’m starving to death…”

As he spoke, the two terrifying, rotten-faced creatures leaped off the horses. Their movements were stiff, like zombies, as they landed steadily and followed the young man.

Fortunately, the owner had been in business for years and was used to such things. Otherwise, seeing two horrible zombies follow a customer into the tavern would likely have scared him unconscious…

“Sure, please come in and wait a moment.”

“Hehe.”

Xiao Bei paid no attention to the players in the tavern. He stretched his stiff neck and sore body on his own, then suddenly stopped and ran back outside:

“Boss, let’s take a break. It’s at most half a day’s ride from here to Wuhu. Why not rest and eat something?”

Boss?

Inside the tavern, the group of bandit players, initially stunned by the two zombies and wondering about the young man’s background and strength, suddenly remembered the ordinary-looking young man in blue sitting on the horses outside.

The moment he came into contact with the clear, looking-down gaze of the young man in blue, for some reason, the “big black guy” suddenly felt a deep sense of shame, as if he had been completely seen through and had nowhere to hide.